Illustration of tiger
- tiger 1a
plural tigers
1
plural also tiger
a
: a large Asian carnivorous mammal (Panthera tigris) of the cat family having a usually tawny coat transversely striped with black
b
: any of several large wildcats (such as the jaguar or cougar)
c
: a domestic cat with striped pattern
d
Australia
: tasmanian tiger
2
a
: a fierce, daring, or aggressive person or quality
aroused the tiger in him
a tiger for work
b
: someone or something (such as a situation) that is formidable or impossible to control
how the tiger of inflation can be tamed—
J. A. Davenport
—often used in the phrases ride a tiger and have a tiger by the tail
J. A. Davenport3
British
: a groom in livery
tigerishly
adverb
tigerishness
noun
Examples of tiger in a Sentence
He was a tiger on the basketball court.
even the best defense can't keep that tiger from scoring
Recent Examples on the Web
Especially if the tiger and the magpie have a name among the crew like Derpy and Sussie.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
Black Tomato found that trips to Ranthambore National Park in India to see tigers are up 50 percent since before Covid.
—Gaby Keiderling, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2025
Animal print, such as tiger and zebra stripes, look like neutrals with a twist.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 2 Sep. 2025
Sand tiger and sandbar sharks spent little time near the surface, staying closer to the bottom.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
Black Tomato found that trips to Ranthambore National Park in India to see tigers are up 50 percent since before Covid.
—Gaby Keiderling, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2025
Animal print, such as tiger and zebra stripes, look like neutrals with a twist.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 2 Sep. 2025
Sand tiger and sandbar sharks spent little time near the surface, staying closer to the bottom.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
Cite this Entry
“Tiger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiger. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tiger
noun
ti·ger
ˈtī-gər 
plural tigers also tiger
1
: a large Asian flesh-eating mammal of the same family as the domestic cat with a coat that is typically light brown to orange with mostly vertical black stripes
2
: any of several large wildcats (as the jaguar or cougar)
3
: a domestic cat with a striped coat
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